BiggerPockets

I am considering my first lease option sale, can anyone offer any tips, or experience? Thanks!

Get as much as you can upfront because the likely hood of it going through, is down in the single digits percentage % wise. I think they say 90-95% of L/O's fall through. I just had a LO fall through, but the nice part was the $5,000 down payment the tenants put down :)

It was structured properly, but I wasn't holding my breath when it came to actually closing the deal.

It was my first, likely not my last, L/O.

Options For The L/O Were:
$5,000 down, $700/month 1st Year, $725/month 2nd Year.
or
$3,000 down, $725/month 1st Year, $750/month 2nd Year.

Priced right at the Tax Assessed Value/Retail when the property was purchased at roughly 60% of the ARV.

I didn't want to really sell it, however, a large down payment & making close to $50k would have EASILY made me move on from the property.

The tenant put $5,000 down, stayed & payed rent for 3 months, than abruptly moved out. I got a total of 9-10 Months rent in a matter of the tenant only staying 3. Am I pissed they moved out? Absolutely, but I was able to really see what my property management team was like. I highly doubt they ever checked this tenants credit and/or track record, and didn't do much for me. Was happy to finally move on, and although a lesson was learned, I'm happy I learned it not upside down :)